White House Considers Tougher Rules as Part of Immigration Overhaul

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Article | September 26, 2017 | GLENN THRUSH and YAMICHE ALCINDOR | New York Times

WASHINGTON — White House officials are circulating a set of hard-line immigration proposals — including the hiring of 10,000 new immigration enforcement agents — to House Republicans alarmed by President Trump’s pledge to protect around 800,000 so-called Dreamers.

The outline, drafted by Mr. Trump’s top policy adviser, Stephen Miller, and the Domestic Policy Council, should be seen as an administration wish list rather than a set of demands, according to an official involved directly in the drafting.

The official said congressional approval of the new proposals is not required as part of Mr. Trump’s pledge to extend the Deferred Action on Childhood Arrivals program, or DACA, which protects undocumented migrants brought into the country as children. But, the official said, they represent an overdue statement of immigration principles, as requested by conservative legislators as they wade into the difficult issue of an overhaul of the immigration system.

The plan, obtained from a Democratic staff member who received it from a Republican member of Congress, would almost certainly negate the tentative agreement reached two weeks ago by Mr. Trump, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi of California to preserve DACA and defer other immigration actions.